Floor construction



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.l

PRESTON M. BRUNER, OF sr. LOUIs, MISSOURI.

FLOOR ooNsTRuoTloN.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 530,744, dated December 11,1894.`

Application filed October I, 1894. Serial No. 524,629. (No model.)v

To a/ZZ whom it may concern: v

Beit known that l, PRESTON M. BRUNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. `Louis, State of Missouri, have in-V vented a certain new and useful Improvementin Floor Constructions, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, wherein- Figure l represents a perspective view of the manner of practicing my invention, and Fig. 2 is a modification.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in the manner of constructing floors of artificial stone, and consists, generally stated, in arranging upon the I-beams, suitable caps, which are formed with lianges, to which flan ges are connected sheets of metal whose ends terminate against the I-beams.

f The material forming the floor is then laid upon the sheets of metal so supported, and in and around the depending portions of the caps, so that the whole forms, when completed, a permanent floor, which is rigidly supported in place and which will sustain a great weight.

Heretofore, the manner of constructing floors of this character when the ceiling has been made, has been to build in the bays or space between two I-beams, a substructure upon which the composition material is laid.

After the material has become set, the substructure is removed. In following this practice, the one great objection is the enormous weight of the floor itself; also, in practicing this method, when the ceiling has been made, it is impossible to remove the substructure from that section of the bay which is last finished. e

In this invention, I form a permanent substructure upon which the composition material is laid and which substructure forms part of the finished floor.

In the drawings, l indicates the I-beams. Upon the upper flanges of these I-beams, are placed caps 2, which, as shown to the left of Fig. 1, may be formed of strips of material of a suitable width and 'bent in the manner suitable to attach the substructure, or, as shown in the middle of the figure, said cap may be made continuous, the depending anges of which are perforated, as at 2, to permit the material to be forced behind the same, or, as

shown in the right of the iigurethe cap may be made continuous and the flanges formed as teeth, which are swaged to permit the material'to be introduced behind the same. In whatever manner the caps may be formed, they are provided with flanges 2b, to which are attached the sheets forming the permanent substructure by rivets or in any suitable manner.

The sheets or webs forming the permanent substructure are provided with some means whereby the material, when laid thereon, will become so associated with thesheet as to beinseparable therefrom. The sheet numbered 3 in the drawings has a tongue or bridge punched up, under which the material may be received when being laid. The sheet et has a series of upwardly-projecting pins which extend up into the material, to yoffer an ad- Sheet 5 has secured thereto hering surface.

Sheet 6 is shown as beaseries of T-beams.

-ing provided with a number of I-beams; 'sheet 7, Iwith a number of L-shaped beams; the beams in all of said sheets-5, 6, and 7'- beingpreferably arranged parallel to each other and to the supporting-beam 1, so that l they will not interfere with the sagging ofthe sheet, forming the permanent substructure. Sheet 8 is formed with a series of corrugations, and sheet 9 is formed with a series of folds.

I have shown many forms of the different Ways in which the sheets or webs may be made or provided with means whereby the material, when laid, will become permanently attached to its supporting sheet or web. The object in so intimately connecting the composition material to vits supporting sheet throughout the entire surface of said sheet, is to take advantage of a well-known principle that two bodies intimately connected or attached to each other will sustain four times the weight that either of them alone would sustain; for illustration, two boards laid dat, side by side, will deflect but one-half of what would be the deflection of one of the boards under a given weight. Two boards, laid one upon another, will deiiect but onehalf the distance of *a single board under a given weight, while two boards intimately connected to each other throughout their length will have a deflection equal to onefourth of the deflection of a single board under a given weight. Another Object in so intimately connecting the composition material to its permanent support is to distribute its weight evenly over the entire area of the loor, thereby obviating the tendency of the ioor to pull the I-beams 1 together at their tops.

The sheets forming the permanent substructure, are preferably formed with a sag in their middle, which gives to the finished iioor a bellied appearance on its under side, making the bulk of the material the greatest at the middle of the bay, where it is least supported, or farthest from the point of support.

At 10, I have shown the permanent substructure as being formed with depending iianges, which rest upon the lower Iianges of the I-beams 1. In this construction, it will be noticed that the substructure is not only supported by the caps 2, but is likewise supported by the I beams, and, between the lian ges 10 and the I-beams, are afforded spaces into which may be introduced the composition material forming the door, which composition material, when set, will preserve the I-beam webs, and at the same time provide an additional support at the edges of the span.

In this application, I have not shown any particular form of ceiling, which can be used with my invention, as there are forms in existence which will answer the purpose admirably-such, for instance, as that shown in United States Letters-Patent No. 356,703, of January 25,1887,fand No. 469,121, of February 16, 1892. However, I do not wish to limit myself to any particular form of ceiling.

In Fig. 2, I have shown a slight modification of the manner of attaching the caps to the supporting beams. In this ligure, the caps are formed directly on the web or sheet and extend over the I-beams to which they may be riveted, or they may be riveted to each other.

In constructing the floor where the caps are integral with the sheets or webs, the same are preferably perforated along the vertical walls, and the channels of the supporting beams, having been previously walled up with composition material, as shown at l1. Vhen the composition material is laid upon the sheet or webs forming the substructure, said material will be forced through the openings in the vertical wall of the caps against the wall 11., and, when the material sets, the material filling the openings will prevent lateral movement, which is essential to the strength of the flooring. It is, also, essential that the sheet or web, which, I might add, could be in the form of the woven web, as well as a pressed web, as shown at No. 3, should maintain in a positive relation to the material composing the oor proper, as any slipping or play between these parts will considerably weaken the structure.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,` is- 1. The combination with supporting beams,

of sheet metal or webbing which is supported from the tops of said beams, said metal or webbing spanning the bay and being so formed that the material which is laid thereon to form the floor, comes in contact with the supporting beams to prevent a swinging or lateral "movement, substantially as described.

` 2. The combination with supportingbeams, of sheet metal or webbing which is supported from the tops of said beams, and which bridges the bay, said supporting beams having their channels filled in with composition material between the webs of the beams and depending portions of the caps, whereby lateral movement of the middle portion of the span is prevented, substantially as described.

3. The combination with supporting beams, of caps which are provided with depending flanges, which iianges are formed with openings through which may be introduced the material composing the iioor proper, and a permanent substructure, which is secured to the flanges of said cap, substantially as described.

li. The combination with supporting beams, of caps which straddle the same, depending ian ges extending from said caps, said flanges being so formed as to afford means of attachment for the substructure and. to permit the material to be forced behind the lianges, and sheet metal which bridges the bay and is permanently secured to said caps, substantially as described.

5. The combination with supporting beams, of caps, and sheet metal or webbing which is secured to the caps and bridges the bay, said sheet metal or webbing being bellied or sagged at its middle portion, and having means for affording an intimate attachment of the composition material thereto, substantially as described.

6. A door which is composed ofsheet metal or webbing, and composition material, said Ametal being continuous the length of the bay and sagged between its points of support so as to continuously increase the bulk of material midway the bay, substantially as described.

7. The combination with the supports, of caps straddling the same, sheet metal or Webbing which is secured to said caps, and which metal bridges the bay, means on the sheet metal or webbing for affording intimate attachment therebetween and the composition material which is laid thereon, said sheet being sagged at its middle, so that when the material forming the door proper is leveled, its greatest thickness will be at the middle of the span, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature, in presence of tWo Witnesses, this 20th day of September, 189i.

PRESTON M. BRUNEB..

Vitnesses:

F. R. CoRNwALL, HUGH K. WAGNER.

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